Hushovd sprints to victory

Hushovd: Celebrates sprint success

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Thor Hushovd claimed the fourth Vuelta a España stage victory of his career by outsprinting Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) and Grega Bole (Lampre) in Murcia.

The Norwegian champion - who also tasted success in 2005 and 2006 - positioned himself towards the front of the bunch as Philippe Gilbert led out a lively sprint finish, and as the Belgian swept over to the right of the road, Hushovd maintained his line and kicked on powerfully to secure a comfortable win.

Gilbert meanwhile, ended the day in sixth position and that result ensured he stayed 10 seconds ahead of Igor Antón (Euskaltel) and Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) in the overall standings.

Most of the 151km trek from Caravaca de la Cruz had been a relatively straightforward affair with Freddy Bichot (Bbox - Bouygues), Markus Eichler (Milram) and Javier Estrada (Andalucía) forming the day's main breakaway soon after the race commissioner had lowered his start flag.

That trio had built a lead of over nine minutes at one point, but their advantage had dropped back to just 45 seconds by the time they hit the sole category-2 climb of the day which came 20km from the finish line.

Bichot was the last man to be hauled back as they neared the top of that summit, and on the descent which followed Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) and Carlos Barredo (Quick-Step) also made determined bids for victory.

Those attempts ultimately proved fruitless however, and a bunch of 65 riders remained as they continued on to the destination town.

Gilbert was clearly feeling fresh and was flung into contention by his Omega Pharma - Lotto team-mates in the dying stages, but the 28-year-old's kick was no match for the sprint specialists, and it was Hushovd (Cervélo) who emerged from the mêlée to wrap up his triumph by over half a bike length.

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